Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 75 - 74: Qing Yueqiu's Lifebound Spirit Sword

Qing Yueqiu followed the Glazed Butterfly forward.

Before she knew it, she was encountering more and more Glazed Butterflies made of Sword Qi along the path. As if she were a sweet, fragrant flower, all the Sword Qi butterflies swarmed around her.

Finally, escorted by the swarm of butterflies, Qing Yueqiu saw a sword plunged deep into the water of a spring.

The entire sword had a translucent, glazed texture. When light hit it, it scattered into rainbow-colored halos, as if streaks of divine light were flowing across its surface, revealing an aura of extraordinary sanctity.

Luminous.

Subconsciously, Qing Yueqiu spoke the sword's name.

At the same time, she knew that by speaking the sword's true name, she had become its master.

Qing Yueqiu grasped the hilt with both hands and began to pull the sword free.

As the glazed, glass-like body of the sword was gradually exposed to the air, the countless butterflies surrounding Qing Yueqiu began to shatter one after another, transforming into brilliantly shimmering motes of pure Sword Qi that merged into Luminous.

In the process of drawing the sword, Qing Yueqiu also felt the rhythm of her breathing gradually synchronizing with the rhythmic pulse of Luminous's Sword Qi.

She remembered her Master telling her that this process was called "Unity."

Qing Yueqiu felt that Luminous was no longer a cold, unfeeling weapon in her hands. It gradually warmed, matching her own body temperature and heartbeat, as if it were another arm—a part of her she was born with.

At the same time, she could feel another consciousness, one that dwelled within the Luminous Shadow Sword, beginning to awaken.

She knew it was the Sword Spirit of Luminous.

Just like the adorable little girl who lived inside her Master's Silent Sword, the Sword Spirit of Luminous would accompany her on her path to eternal life.

"I have my own Lifebound Spirit Sword now!"

Qing Yueqiu felt she had taken another step closer to the Master she so admired.

...

With a flash of brilliant, purple-gold divine light, Qing Yueqiu walked out of the Divine Sword Pavilion.

Elder Liu had been waiting there for a long time. But when he saw Luminous in Qing Yueqiu's hand, a look of shock appeared on his placid face.

"Junior, you actually gained the acknowledgment of Dieyin Fairy's personal sword!"

"Dieyin Fairy?"

"The Sword Spirit of Luminous didn't tell you? Right, that makes sense. According to the records, when that Sword Spirit was sent into the Divine Sword Pavilion, its Spiritual Essence was almost completely depleted. Its Divine Soul was on the verge of shattering. Even after three thousand years of being nourished here, it might not have awakened immediately."

Seeing the curious look on Qing Yueqiu's face, Elder Liu began to recount the history of the Luminous Shadow Sword and Dieyin Fairy.

Three thousand years ago, a rift in the world appeared in the southernmost sea. People called it the Abyss.

Countless wicked Demons, exuding an aura of impurity, poured out from the Abyss, seeking to defile the world.

To save all living beings and uphold justice in the mortal realm, all the Sects in the world set aside their differences and united to resist the foreign invaders.

Back then, Dieyin Fairy of the Xuanyuan Dao Sect, whose power and beauty were both peerless, was sent to the front lines at the Abyss in the South Sea to fight the wicked Demons.

The Fairy later fell into an enemy ambush. She single-handedly fought off the assault of a massive Demon Tide, ultimately burning out her Dao Foundation to break through the encirclement...

Unfortunately, Dieyin Fairy's injuries were too severe. Even after returning to the Dao Sect, her terrible wounds were beyond healing. Not long after she sent her Luminous Shadow Sword, its Spiritual Essence depleted, to the Divine Sword Pavilion, she passed away.

Fortunately, the Cultivators who came after did not fail the heroic spirits like Dieyin Fairy who had sacrificed themselves for the sake of justice. In the five-hundred-year bloody war that followed, they successfully repelled the Demons of the Abyss and sealed it shut.

The South Sea was also enveloped by a Grand Array jointly established by the Great Powers. Because anyone who entered would become lost in a chaotic overlap of space and time, it was thereafter renamed the Endless Sea.

As Elder Liu recounted these mythical epics from the ancient records, Qing Yueqiu's breathing subconsciously slowed.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Qing Yueqiu felt Luminous tremble in her hand.

'The Sword Spirit in Luminous must have been subconsciously moved upon hearing Dieyin Fairy's story, right?'

Unfortunately, when Qing Yueqiu tried to call out to the Sword Spirit, she still received no response.

It seemed the recent tremor was just the slumbering Sword Spirit subconsciously turning over in its sleep upon hearing about its former master, but it was still dead to the world...

But there was no need to force the Sword Spirit to awaken. Qing Yueqiu wasn't in a rush; gaining the acknowledgment of a Treasure Sword like Luminous was already a tremendous blessing.

A Spirit Sword with a Sword Spirit was stronger, but the threshold to wield it was also higher. If the master and Sword Spirit were not highly compatible, it could even be counterproductive. The Sword Spirit of Luminous had been alive for over three thousand years. In Cultivator terms, it would be at least on the level of a Sect ancestor, likely making it one of the most difficult types of Sword Spirits to communicate with...

With the Sect tournament only a month away, Qing Yueqiu didn't have time to slowly build a rapport with an unfamiliar Sword Spirit. If the Sword Spirit within Luminous truly awakened, she probably wouldn't be confident enough to use it in the tournament.

As things stood, a Luminous Shadow Sword that she could wield freely was more suitable for her, even if she couldn't unleash its true divine might.

Qing Yueqiu estimated that she was now at least four times as strong as she had been before entering the Divine Sword Pavilion. A leap in power so swift and staggering it was hard to believe, like suddenly being able to soar through the heavens using Sword Control...

No wonder so many Cultivators would risk their lives, desperately trying to explore all sorts of divine troves and Secret Realms. A single success could be worth decades, or even centuries, of arduous cultivation.

If one obtained some great opportunity related to the Dao, it could even be enough to defy the heavens and change one's destiny.

But right now, more than her own increase in strength, Qing Yueqiu was concerned about the man she had longed for day and night in the Illusion Realm.

"Elder Liu, I've been out of the pavilion for some time now, but I still don't see my Master... Has he already left?"

Elder Liu's smiling face stiffened for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal, revealing nothing amiss.

He pointed outside the Divine Sword Pavilion and said, "Junior, if you head out from here, you will see a red vessel. Your Master is on board, quietly awaiting your good news.

Hurry and give your Master a surprise."

"Mm."

Qing Yueqiu nodded, unable to hide the joy in her eyes.

'Give Master a surprise...'

'This is one of my greatest motivations on the path of cultivation!'

She believed that when her Master saw her growth, he would praise her from the bottom of his heart.

'When that time comes... could I be a little willful and ask Master for a small, insignificant reward?'

'Something like watching the moon with me, just like when I was little. I have so many things I want to share with him, just the two of us under the moonlight...'

For a moment, Qing Yueqiu completely forgot to bid Elder Liu farewell. She hurriedly flew off on her sword, heading straight for the vessel where Pei Yuhang was waiting.